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CEO of Manchester Airport reacts to 3rd runway at Heathrow

October 26, 2016

The CEO of Manchester Airport, has given his reaction to the Government’s announcement of Heathrow as the preferred choice for the location of a new runway in the South East of the UK.

Ken O’Toole, CEO of Manchester Airport, said that while a new runway at Heathrow will be good for the UK economy, analysis shows that growing Manchester Airport would generate £75bn worth of economic benefit to the North West, six times more than that of a new runway at Heathrow.

Realising Manchester Airport’s full potential will be the thing that delivers most benefit to the Northern economy in years to come, through the employment, trade and investment that it will generate.

Ken O’Toole said: “Connecting the UK to the rest of the world is key to driving economic growth.

“Now that a decision has been taken on the location of a new runway, there is an opportunity to develop a new aviation policy that seeks to maximise the contribution all airports can make to improving our global connectivity. We welcome the Government’s commitment to doing just that.

“Airports up and down the country, including Manchester, have a critical role in the future prosperity of both the regions they serve and the country as a whole. For example, Manchester’s two existing full-length runways have the ability to handle up to 55m passengers per year – more than double current numbers.

“While a new runway at Heathrow will be good for the UK economy, analysis shows that growing Manchester Airport to 55m passengers per year would generate £75bn worth of economic benefit to the North West, six times more than a new runway at Heathrow would. Realising Manchester Airport’s full potential will be the thing that delivers most benefit to the Northern economy in years to come, through the employment, trade and investment that it will generate.

“So, an immediate priority for Government must be to work with airports to make the best possible use of existing capacity in the 10-15 years before a new runway can be delivered.

“That includes pressing ahead with initiatives that encourage the development of new routes from Manchester, such as the integration of road, rail and aviation policies and ensuring we have a tax regime that stimulates, rather than inhibits global connectivity.

“We must learn the lessons from the slow Airports Commission process, which has been incredibly protracted, and ensure the new aviation policy looks at what is best for the UK as a whole and enables all airports to compete successfully on the global stage.”

Pictured is Ken O’Toole in discussion with Chris Grayling, Secretary of State and Minister for Transport

In the last year the following number of passengers from the below counties used Manchester Airport:

· Cheshire – 2,264,928

· Greater Manchester – 6,859,105

· Merseyside – 1,885,005

· Lancashire – 2,081,365

· Cumbria – 531,480

· Yorkshire – 4,240,407

· Tyne and Wear – 124,659

· North Wales – 861,934

Manchester Airport stats:

• Manchester is the UK’s third largest airport handling more than 24.6m passengers in the last 12 months. This will imminently hit the 25m passenger milestone

• 2016 has been the busiest summer ever – more than 8.3m passengers travelled between June and August. Busiest day saw 104,000 passengers pass through the terminals

• More than 70 airlines offer direct flights from Manchester to over 210 destinations worldwide.

• Manchester Airport is one of the largest centres of employment in the North West with more than 22,200 people directly employed on site and supporting 48,000 jobs in the North West of England

• Manchester Airport is worth £1.8bn to the North West Economy and £3.15bn to the UK economy. Source: York Aviation

• 22 million people live within two hours of Manchester Airport

• The airport’s operational area extends to 800 hectares, equivalent to more than 1200 football pitches

• Continued growth of long haul routes from Manchester – Direct flights to Hong Kong, Miami, Jeddah, Aruba, Boston, Los Angeles and Beijing all launched in the last few years. Routes also announced to Houston, Phuket, Mauritius, Goa, Tobago, Muscat, San Francisco and Cayo Coco for the rest of 2016 and Summer 17

• Point to point long haul business traffic has grown by 10% over the last 3 years.

• Direct long haul routes stimulate growth. Before the launch of the Hong Kong route, demand from Manchester’s catchment area was 100,000 passengers a year. In the year following the launch of the direct route, this was calculated as 125,000 passengers a year.

• The market share of long haul business traffic connecting at London Heathrow has reduced from 25% to 20%• Around 60% of all international business travel to and from the North of England already passes through Manchester